This project showcases the exploratory data analysis and visualization of sales data using Advanced Excel techniques and IBM Cognos Analytics. The goal is to derive actionable insights and trends from real-world sales data stored in Excel format.
The dataset has been extracted from Kaggle and renamed as sales_data in the workbook, and the complete analysis (including dashboards) is presented using both Excel and Cognos tools.
- To understand sales performance over time.
- To identify top-performing products, regions, and customers.
- To detect business gaps, underperforming segments, and future opportunities.
- To develop an interactive and automated dashboard for business reporting.
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Excel (Advanced) | Data cleaning, transformation, and visualization (PivotTables, Charts, Lookup Functions, etc.) |
| IBM Cognos | Interactive dashboards and drill-down insights |
| Kaggle | Original data source for raw sales dataset (already imported into Excel) |
- Cleaned and transformed data in
sales_datasheet. - Created PivotTables for:
- Region-wise and product-wise sales summaries.
- Monthly/Quarterly sales trends.
- Used formulas like
VLOOKUP,IF,SUMIFS, and data validation. - Implemented conditional formatting for KPI tracking.
- Developed chart dashboards showing top products, revenue growth, and profit margins.
- Created multiple pages of visuals including:
- Time-series sales analysis
- Region and product category filters
- KPI indicators (Revenue, Profit, Quantity Sold)
- Drill-down interactions for management reporting
| File Name | Description |
|---|---|
10322210072_Excel-1.xlsx |
Raw dataset (sales_data) + preliminary cleaning |
10322210072_Excel-2.xlsx |
Pivot tables, KPI charts, final Excel dashboard |
- Q4 showed peak sales, possibly influenced by seasonal offers.
- Central region outperformed others in both revenue and units sold.
- Top 5 products accounted for 40%+ of total revenue.
- Some product categories showed high volume but low profit margins.
- Loyal customers repeated purchases, contributing major revenue share.
- Built a robust reporting solution from a flat Excel dataset.
- Demonstrated BI tool integration (Cognos) for real-time reporting.
- Practiced a real-world analytics lifecycle: extraction → cleaning → analysis → dashboarding → insight.
- Data Cleaning and Validation
- Lookup & Aggregation Functions (VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, INDEX-MATCH)
- Dashboard Design Principles
- IBM Cognos for Business Intelligence
- Data Interpretation & Insight Reporting
Developed by **Shruti **
🔗 GitHub Repository
📫 Email: shruti09dec@gmail.com
🌐 LinkedIn:(https://linkedin.com/in/shruti-km)